Chana Dal or Spilt Chickpea Soup

Chana Dal or Spilt Chickpea Soup is a warming, hearty and delicious meal for the winter time. You can eat this soup with vegetables or on its own with raita (yogurt dressing). I love mine with crispy fried onions and yogurt. This is a simple, easy to make recipe that can be refrigerated for 2 days.

I recommend cooking it with vegetable stock, however if you are not a vegetarian you can also use homemade bone broth to make it more nutritious.

Chana Dal or Split Chickpea

Dosha: V↑, PK↓

Taste: Cooling

Energetics: Cooling

Benefits:

Chana Dal is extremely delicious in taste, full of nutritious and can be digested easily.

It contains polyunsaturated fatty acids (ALA and omega 3) and soluble fiber which helps in lowering cholesterol and reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

It is beneficial for the diabetics because of its unique properties and low glycemic index.

Due to the high fiber content, the beneficial bacteria’s in the gut metabolizes the fiber in the colon to produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as acetic, propionic and butyric acid.

Chana Dal is also known as garbanzo beans, Bengal grams, and Egyptian peas. It has a delicious nutty taste and buttery texture. Chana Dal or spilt chickpea soup will provide you with a concentrated source of protein that can be enjoyed year-round. Canned chickpeas will not work for this recipe. Therefore obtain the split chana Dal or spilt chickpea from the bulk area of a grocery store.

It is a very versatile legume, and is used in many Middle Eastern and Indian dishes such as hummus, falafels and curries.